Our community

Entry #4 – Support study materials for the Tuesday Night Meditation Group at AYM.

Hi Meditation Friends and Yogis,

Last night at Tuesday Night Meditation at AYM, we delved deep into the source of Right Action, the way our mind reacts to sensory events or thoughts.  This morning, I was checking out a friend’s blog and voila! a beautiful quote of Gandhi’s that exemplifies the connection between our thoughts and how they lead to skillful or unskillful actions.

So when we sit down and observe our breath or sensations in meditation practice we are learning to give space and time to the present moment.  Yes thoughts will arise and if we remember our meditation instructions, we will give space and time to observing these thoughts.  In this act of giving space, we are learning to hold back from simply letting our reactions out in word or action without consideration.  In the pause, we teach ourselves to be discerning and considerate. We are seeing our thoughts as thoughts, just what they are.  Then in the next moment, we see if the thoughts link up to reality. Many times they don’t.  They are simply fabrications.  Many times they do, ahh! clear seeing.  In the pause,  we are fortifying our minds to be mirrors of our lives. Seeing things just as they are, we see the interconnection of all actions and how actions influence other actions.  This is the beginning of equanimity – upekkha.  The Buddha said that upekkha is the beginning and the end of meditation practise. The more we practice upekkha on the meditation cushion or in a yoga posture, the more we will practice it in our daily lives when talking to friends or dealing with a problem at work.  This week, take time to pause and give space to whatever you find yourself doing.

Entry #3 – Support study materials for the Tuesday Night Meditation Group at AYM. Read previous posts here and here.

On the last meditation in December, the Tuesday Evening Meditation Group dove into the third and fourth elements of the eightfold path, Right Speech and Right Action.  We took time to discuss what these elements are.  More than simple guidelines to being more respectful of ourselves and others, we quickly realized that when paying attention to our speech and actions, we are seeing how we feed our senses and how we guide our senses with pre-programmed belief systems (ideas) about ourselves and others.

Basically, how I greet someone tells me what I assume about them.  Or how I walk in a forest or on a street, reveals to me what I already expect from that environment.

So when I soften, listen, quiet my attention to the breath, walk with intention or speak with care, I am letting go of my assumptions about the present moment and learning to engage with what is happening with less bias, or hopefully no bias at all. I am clearly seeing.  I am fully listening. This is meditation in speech and action.  This is taking the quiet (or not so quiet in the mind time) on the meditation cushion and transferring these skills into our daily lives.

Read the rest of this entry »

MARCH 17-24, 2012

Deepen your practice and contemplate nature’s splendour in Costa Rica. Jeanne Mudie will lead you through a daily practice designed to create space in the body, mind and heart, enabling you to more fully experience the stunning rain forests and wildlife of the Osa Pensinsula.

COST: $1590 (CAD)

Limited to 20 spaces – so book quickly!

INCLUDED